The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change

Gamergate inspired me to make changes to the way we run MASH. At least it was good for something.

A few weeks ago I posted an article over at MASH letting our reader base know that we were looking to make some changes to the way we ran the site and it’s content. I know on the podcast I get very “zealous” about certain topics, but for the most part I don’t let things bother me — which is why I was so surprised that the press response to Gamersgate got under my skin so much. The good thing about Gamersgate is that it got me thinking about the way we run MASH and how we really got off track with what we were trying to accomplish. MASH started as a simple idea with small scope that ballooned pretty quickly after the wheels started to move. The scope of the project got larger, and without even realizing it we became something like the traditional games media in order to try to get a larger reader base.

Hindsight’s 20/20, and at this point I’m over trying to expand to new audiences. I’m very content with catering to the core gaming audience, whether or not that brings us a bunch of fans or not. If you like the content, sweet! If not, then there are tons of sites out there that probably have what you need. For most websites getting Ad dollars is a big issue since they can’t run without them. This means tailoring content that will draw in as many people as possible and using a lot of recycled content with clickbait or even misleading headlines. This will no longer be an issue for us since I’ve already made the decision to strip all third party advertisements from MASH upon the next site update.

The site has never made that much money to begin with, so doing this isn’t going to negatively affect anything. I am considering offering game devs ad space for a low price. Something that could help cover the cost of the server we’re running, which doesn’t cost much to begin with. Doing that requires building some type of tracking system for analytics, though, so I really have to thing about whether or not I want to get involved with that. If I do decide to go down that road we’ll make an official announcement on MASH.

Something else coming down the pipe that we really haven’t talked about yet is us switching to a more podcast and video driven content model. For the most part we have been focused on writing reviews, previews, editorials, etc, but to be honest it is very time consuming. With Joel gone it’s now just me and Nick, and it would just be too much to write a review for the games that come our way. Starting within the next month or so we will be putting our reviews and previews into audio form primarily, but we won’t leave out those who can’t listen and just want the particulars on a game. More info on that soon.

We are also going to host more podcast. Mashcast and WoW! Talk! will of course continue, but we have a new MOBA podcast that will be debuting soon and possibly a monthly FGC podcast. I’ll be looking to get more video content pumped out with the help of Joey Min. He always has good ideas, and now I want to focus more on getting them out. Speaking of good ideas, VGXCheck is definitely still a thing; the project is pushing forward.

To fit our new content I will need to make some tweaks to MASH. Nothing as drastic as February, but it will take some time still; especially with the projects we have going on at Reactor 5. I have a lot of work ahead of me over the next few months, but I’m actually looking forward to it. I’m sure I will learn a lot just like I do on every project I work on, which is a real motivating factor for me when taking these things on. When all of the details get ironed out you can expect a more detailed post on MASH.

This site is still a ways away from being complete, but I put together a minimal version of the site so I can start publishing my Big Black stuff. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or Instagram if you want to be kept up-to-date on the sites progress or just Big Black things in general.